Thigh Anxiety

Article Tools

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

Also, women are no longer settling for chubby, balding executives. They don't have to. 'It used to be that men responded to physical beauty and women responded to power and status,' says David Sarwer, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Human Appearance. 'Now women have their own power and status, and they're looking for more attractive men.'

In some ways, this new aesthetic surgery trend among men validates what women have always known: Looking good is hard work. But it's also ironic. Feminists who once hoped that gaining equality in the workplace would mean they could stop worrying so much about appearance are now finding that men are worrying more about their own looks--and presumably haven't learned any lessons from their female colleagues' struggle. Of the millions of people diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and other eating disorders each year, almost 10 percent are men. Silicone calf and pectoral implants--used to beef up the less-than-muscular leg or chest--are becoming more common.

Still, men continue to be far less anxious than women about their looks. 'There's definitely more emphasis on men's looks, bodies, and weight than in any time in the past, but I don't think men will ever feel the intense pressure to be trim and attractive that women face every day,' says Debbie Then, a California-based social psychologist who studies appearance. But now that popular men's magazines are filling up with ads for plastic surgery and ab-tightening machines, it won't be long before men start taking their physical imperfections to heart.

Psychologists also have identified in men a disorder known as body dysmorphia, which involves extreme, exaggerated dissatisfaction with body parts and appearance. For men that often means body build, hair loss, and genital size.

Whether or not the problem is between men's ears, cosmetic surgeons are doing their best to help men improve what's on top of their heads--and between their legs. In 1996 alone, men spent about $12 million on penile enlargements. Privately, many plastic surgeons say the results are rarely impressive--and often dangerous. Martin Resnick, chair of the Department of Urology at Case Western Reserve University and secretary of the American Urological Association, says that 'penile enlargement has not been shown to give patients the degree of enlargement they desire. And in some cases, the procedure has led to infection and deformity.'

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print